May 2017 Update

May was generally quiet with the market trending generally higher.  With few pullback opportunities, I barely deployed new dividends so my cash position increased again.  At least the turmoil I experienced moving from Loyal3 subsided and I could resume a more moderate pace.  An upcoming election in the UK may present a buying opportunity on weakness in the GBP versus the US dollar.  The S&P ended the month up 1.16% while my portfolio recorded a gain of 1.37%.  For the year (so far), I’m ahead of the index by 4.07%

Headlines impacting my portfolio (bold are owned):

• 5/1 – DRE sells medical office portfolio to HTA
• 5/1 – TIS suspends dividend
• 5/4 – FHN to acquire CBF
• 5/30 – JNS/HGG.L merger completed (becoming JHG)
• 5/31 – KEY acquires HelloWallet from MORN

Portfolio Updates:

• Initiated position in SGAPY
• Added to IVZ
• Added to PWCDF (proceeds from sale of TIS)
• Added to DST
• Added to PLD

Dividends:

• May delivered an increase of 51.44% over May 2016 with the vast majority of this attributable to foreign dividend cycles not held last year.
• May delivered an increase of 38.94% over last quarter (Feb) for the same reason.
• Declared dividend increases averaged 8.89% with 48.02% of my portfolio delivering at least one increase (2 cuts – XRX and YUM; 1 suspension – TIS)
• YTD dividends received were 47.11% of total 2016 dividends which if the current run rate is maintained would exceed last year’s total in early November.

Note: with 14.6% of current dividends paid by foreign sources, the weakening US dollar is providing a tailwind with exchange rates i.e., increasing my return.

Spinoffs:

The MET spin (Brighthouse Financial – BHF) remains in regulatory review.

Mergers:

Agrium/POT, SGBK/HOMB remain pending

Pure Randomness

Every now and again events are thrown our direction which necessitate a change.  Being one who abhors change, I tend to procrastinate until the absolute last minute.  I knew the drive in my laptop was on its’ last legs a year ago when I bought a new one.  Last week it bit the dust.  I did perform regular backups so data loss was minimal.  What loss exists is not due to Wanna Cry but their evil twin, Micosoft (MSFT).  Though I have an Office license, my use (legally) of an upgraded version resulted in the inability to perform a backward migration.  It appears my best recourse is to purchase an upgrade.  My frugal nature has an issue with this solution (being held hostage?).  Meanwhile, seeing if Google fills the void.  I did add a sheet to my Dividends spreadsheet (Div Dates) which – assuming I get the hang of conditional formatting – has the potential of automating my watch list.

Closing the Primerica Experiment

One year ago I embarked on a mission to determine whether Primerica stock (PRI) was a better investment then the sum of its’ parts – well at least most of the parts.  SEC filings were scoured to identify their investments as insurance companies are required to maintain reserves (the float).  A portfolio was established (3Q 2015) , funded (4Q 2015) and tracked (Oct 2015 to Sep 2016) to be able to declare a winner.

And the winner is … Primerica by 16.15%.  Now I realize that a single snapshot in time may not be reflective of reality, but to my surprise Primerica outperformed the basket through this snapshot in time.

The -opoly World

Early Retiree Reality (ERR) recently published a thought provoking article titled My Duopoly and Oligopoly Shopping List on Seeking Alpha.  The premise is essentially that duopolies and oligopolies provide wider moats which results in greater profitability.  I would encourage you to read it.  This idea is similar to one I’ve been working on with my Speculative Pillars series on Cord cutting, Transaction Processing and to a lesser degree Regional Banks.  Although neatly packaged, I failed to make the leap into the –opoly world.

Unbundled PRI Q1

Yes, I know you want me to get to the end of year results and 2016 goals already.  Those will be my next two posts.  Promise.

Meanwhile, it’s time for a review of the first quarter of my Primerica analysis.  Here’s my initial write up.  On Christmas Eve, I used my remaining free cash to purchase this group of companies.  I did make a few changes to the original selection: